


The Right Noah

by pterawaters



Category: Glee
Genre: Blind Date, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Noah never went to McKinley, Relationship Negotiation, Romance, Silly songs, Universe Alteration, theater production
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 21:20:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2125071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noah Puckerman moved away from Lima before freshman year of high school, so he only knows Kurt as Finn's new stepbrother. Kurt reconnects with Noah when he believes Noah Puckerman to be the man his friend set him up with on a blind date. As their relationship develops, Kurt knows in the back of his mind that he's leaving town in a couple months, that this can't be permanent. Noah knows he's been looking for someone like Kurt for a long time. Now he has to decide whether to fight for what they have together, or to let Kurt go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Right Noah

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Puckurt Big Bang, 2014.](http://puckurtbigbang.livejournal.com/)
> 
> An awesome Fanmix for this piece was done by the lovely [patchfire](http://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire)! You can download the fanmix [here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/t8ybzheiwgc7t63/TheRightNoah.zip).
> 
> Beta read by [greenglowsgold](http://archiveofourown.org/users/greenglowsgold/pseuds/greenglowsgold). Thanks so much!

"Shit," Kurt says, clicking open his phone to look at the time and then glaring out the front window of the bus at the group of at least a dozen cyclists taking up the road in front of them. The bus is already running almost 10 minutes late. Kurt should've called a cab. Jesus, he only lives fifteen blocks away. He could've walked here faster. Sure, he'd be sweaty and out of breath from coming up the hill, but at least he wouldn't be late.

Kurt takes another look at the text Jennifer sent about Kurt's date. _Name's Noah. Super hot. Unicorn at six._ Kurt has no idea why he is meeting a blind date at a bar after happy hour, but before the action of the place really would take off for the night. Maybe Jennifer thought the weird carnival food they served at Unicorn would make for a good conversation starter?

Kurt escapes the bus at his stop and jogs to the Unicorn, throwing open the heavy pub door when he gets there. His eyes take a moment to adjust before he can really get the lay of the land. There aren't that many people in the bar, and as he looks around, Kurt sees one person looking back at him with raised eyebrows. 

The man is wearing a sport coat over a red t-shirt, and when he slides out of the booth he's been sitting in, Kurt sees that he's wearing jeans that are just a touch baggier than the current style. 

Kurt approaches the man, "Noah?"

Nodding and smiling, his teeth straight and white and his eyes crinkling at the edge, Noah sticks out his hand. "Kevin?"

Confused, Kurt takes Noah's hand and shakes it firmly. "Kurt, actually."

"Oh!" Noah does this adorable, sheepish look down at his feet, before looking up at Kurt through his lashes. Something looks familiar about the expression, but Kurt can't quite place it. Noah releases Kurt's hand and gestures to the round booth he'd been sitting at. "Jen kept telling me different names. First it was Kevin, then Kyle, then Chris. It's all her fault!"

Kurt laughs as he takes a seat, a tiny bit confused. While it's true that he doesn't know Jennifer all _that_ well, he's fairly certain she knows his name.

"I'm Kurt." He watches Noah take a seat that's mostly across the table from Kurt, perhaps a little closer. "So, was it your idea to meet here?" Kurt glares at the garish, if whimsical decor.

"Nah," Noah says. "I think Jen might have picked this one because it's the only gay bar she knew. Typical Jen."

Again, something doesn't quite sit right, but Kurt brushes it off as nerves. He laughs. "I've been gay in this city for almost 6 months, and though I've heard there's an enticing drag show, I tend to frequent... _classier_ establishments."

Noah laughs, doing that adorable looking down thing again. "You mean you've never had Unicorn Jizz?"

" _What?_ " Kurt feels the blood rush to his face. He's about to ask if that was some sort of proposition, when Noah slides the drink menu across the table and points at one of the items. "Oh." Kurt sneers in disgust, even if the drink described does sound moderately tasty. "Yes, I can say I've never had...one of those."

Noah laughs again. "You know, I'm half tempted to order one, just so we can both say we've had the experience."

The rakish smirk Noah gives him wipes away Kurt's disgust at the drink name. Kurt's heart flutters in his chest and he thinks maybe this whole blind date thing is alright.

"So, Noah. What do you do?"

Noah shrugs, folding his menu. "Like, for a living, you mean?"

Kurt nods, charmed by Noah's concern that he understand the question. 

"Music," Noah says. "Mostly producing, but I write a few songs here and there."

Something clicks in Kurt's mind and he's overwhelmed with the urge to ask one particular question. "You play guitar?"

Noah nods, smiling, and the fingers of his left hand twitch like they want to be holding the instrument in question. "How'd you guess?"

"Your hair's different now!" Kurt laughs. "Still, I don't know how I didn't recognize you! Puck!"

Noah raises an inquisitive eyebrow at Kurt. "You–" Noah's eyes go wide. " _You're_ Finn's Kurt! The blonde totally threw me off."

Laughing, Kurt runs a hand back through his hair. "I know. Wild, huh? It's for the role I'm playing. At least it's not a mohawk."

Noah smirks and ducks his head, his own hand going up to the curls on his head. "The mohawk was badass and you know it!"

Kurt practically squeals with laughter. "God, it's been so long since I've seen you. Well, obviously. We didn't even recognize each other."

"I'm not sure I'd recognize half the people I actually went to high school with, nevermind my friend's step brother who lived three towns over." Noah shifts in his seat a little, sitting back and resting his arm on the booth headrest. Relaxed is a good look for him. "How many times did we actually talk to each other? Five? Six?"

Remembering his former skepticism for Noah's (or Puck, as Kurt knew him back then) intentions, Kurt blushes. "I thought you were trouble back then. I avoided you on purpose."

Noah mock gasps and puts a hand to his chest. "I am shocked, Kurt. You mean to tell me the Mohawk and the leather jacket was enough to frighten you away?"

Chuckling, Kurt looks around for the server so he can delay his response. "Finn might have told me some tall tales about you and your _exploits_. I only realized after graduation how many of them were probably untrue."

The server must see Kurt looking around, because she approaches the table, smacking her gum. "Hey, guys! What's everyone having?"

"Let's get some Unicorn Jizz up in here," Noah says with a grin. Kurt chokes on his tongue a little, coughing into the crook of his elbow.

The server turns to Kurt and asks, "And how 'bout you, Typhoid Mary?"

Kurt gives her the best polite smile he can manage and starts to order a Diet Coke. Then he notices the twinkle in Noah's eye and can't stop himself from saying, "I'll have what he's having."

"Gotcha."

As the server leaves, Noah laughs out loud, his grin wide and open. "I would never have expected you to go for it! Way to go, Kurt!"

Kurt laughs as well, reaching out toward Noah across the table, even if he doesn't make contact yet. "Well, you had such a convincing argum–"

"Kurt?" A voice at the head of the booth asks, and Kurt turns toward it. There are a man and a woman standing there, the man looking at Kurt and the woman over at Noah. The man hesitates for a moment, but asks again, "Kurt? Jennifer Hu's friend? I'm Noah."

Kurt looks across the table to _his_ Noah, who looks just as confused as Kurt feels. "But…" Kurt points across the table. "This is Noah."

"Hey." Noah gives a little wave. He nods to the woman. "Who's this?"

The woman clasps her hands in front of her, pressing her lips together awkwardly. "I'm Kyle."

"Jen Little's friend?" Noah asks, scooting out of the booth. "Sorry. I didn't know you were a girl. I met Kurt and thought I'd just heard your name wrong." Noah gives Kurt an apologetic shrug. "Sorry."

Kurt realizes what has happened. He's on a date with the wrong Noah. He understands, technically, how this is possible. There are two Noahs, both of them with friends named Jennifer who set them up on blind dates with people whose names start with K. It's a simple misunderstanding. Still, Kurt can't help but feel like he's _supposed_ to get reacquainted with Finn's friend Noah, not this complete stranger Noah, who's sitting down across from him.

Kurt wonders how tacky it would be of him to ask for Noah Puckerman's phone number. He realizes he doesn't care, so he tells his new table companion, "I'll be back in a moment." Kurt hurries after _his_ Noah.

"Sorry," he says, breaking into the conversation as his Noah and this woman named Kyle choose another booth to sit in. "Sorry, Noah? Could I have your phone number? I wasn't sure I could still get it from Finn."

"He has it," Noah says with a nod, giving an apologetic shrug to his new date. "But yeah, here." Noah pulls his phone from his pocket and unlocks it before handing it to Kurt. 

It's an older model, but the same brand as Kurt's phone, so Kurt quickly types in his number and sends himself a text. "Thanks! It was good to see you again."

"You too." Noah shifts so his back is to Kyle and gives Kurt a wink that's so flirtatious it makes Kurt's knees a little weak.

He stumbles back to his table and the _other_ Noah. "Sorry about that. We're old acquaintances. I didn't want to lose touch again."

The other Noah waves off Kurt's concern. "I'm just glad we got everything straightened out." He pauses, before chuckling. He leans over and squeezes Kurt's bicep. "Well, not _everything_ straightened. Am I right?"

"Sure," Kurt says with a forced chuckle. This other Noah, while objectively aesthetically pleasing with his perfectly coiffed hair and his elegant cheekbones and his fine clothing, just isn't doing anything for Kurt. He wonders if his Noah is having the same problem with his date, or if he's glad he's ended up with a pretty girl instead of Kurt. The stories Finn has told Kurt about "Puck's" exploits never featured men, after all.

"So, Jennifer told me that you're also an actor?" The other Noah asks, which compels Kurt to turn his attention away from trying to use one of the funhouse mirrors up on the wall to spy on his Noah and Noah's date.

"Yes. I play one of the secondary leads, to Jennifer's brilliant primary lead, of course. We open at the end of June." Kurt smiles at the thought of his friend, though the jury's still out on whether or not he has to punish her for setting him up with this other Noah.

This other Noah makes an appreciative sound, reaching for the drink menu, which Kurt's Noah had folded the wrong way around. This other Noah folds it back the right way around. The action makes Kurt's skin itch and delays his comprehension of Noah's next question. "So, how did you get into acting, of all things?"

After blinking for a few moments while he recollects his thoughts, Kurt responds. "I've always been _dramatic_ ," Kurt says, rolling his eyes at himself. "But I suppose it was really glee club that set me on the path toward the stage."

"Glee club? That's like, singing, right?"

Kurt's voice comes out flatter than he means it to. "Right." The other Noah seems to want more information, so Kurt suppresses a sigh. "It's show choir. We competed in song-and-dance competitions. Won Nationals my senior year."

"Wow." The other Noah makes an impressed sort of frown. "I can't sing at all, aside from the rare 'Happy Birthday'. You guys must've been good."

"Better than average," Kurt says with a shrug. God, was Kurt really only two minutes into this date? "So, what do you do, Noah?"

"I work for Microsoft." The other Noah says this like Kurt should be impressed. "Logistics. It's not as exciting as acting on stage, but I bet I make a heck of a lot more than you do." The other Noah chuckles.

Kurt clenches his jaw and bites his tongue. He's glad he only agreed to drinks, and not dinner. Kurt would have stayed for dinner with his Noah, but with this man? No way.

Kurt's glad the show is coming together so well. If his eye for the quality of musicals is on point, they should be getting good reviews. It means their planned tour trajectory should bring Kurt back to New York by Christmas. Not that New York has any better people than anywhere else, but it least it has the people Kurt's spent _years_ forging friendships with, not coworkers who can't seem to set up blind dates with any sort of accuracy.

Why would Jennifer ever think this other Noah would be good for Kurt? Is it just that they're the only two gay and single men she knows? Kurt wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

The silence grows awkward, so Kurt scrambles for something to talk about. Before he lands on a topic he's happy with, his phone buzzes. Everyone Kurt regularly texts with either knows he's out on a date, or is on the east coast and probably in bed already. Frowning, Kurt checks his phone, and sees it's from a Seattle area code. In fact, he has two pending texts from the number, and Kurt realizes his Noah has just texted him. 

_You look like you need an out. Pretend this text is an emergency and bail._

Kurt keeps the amused smile he wants to give from his face and lets his expression fall. "Oh, my god!"

"What?" the other Noah asks with rapt attention.

"It's…" Kurt pauses for effect, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's my cat. She's back in New York with my friend. She's– she's dead."

The other Noah's brows furrow. "Your friend?"

Kurt can't help but turn a confused expression at him. "No, my _cat_. My cat died."

"Oh." The other Noah looks even more confused than Kurt feels. "It's just a cat…"

"Oh, my god." Kurt holds up a hand and scoots out of the booth, walking away from the other Noah. He doesn't care if the man is Jennifer's friend, he's not staying here on a date with a man who doesn't take the love some people have for their pets seriously. 

Not that Kurt actually has a cat, but he's only moderately good at improvisation and it was the first thing that came to mind. Getting out of a date because his goldfish, Mr. Grumpy, died didn't seem as likely as if Mr. Grumpy were actually cute and furry.

When Kurt gets a few blocks away, he steps into a Starbucks to order an iced coffee and a snack to hold him over until he can get back home and make himself some dinner. While he's waiting in line, Kurt texts his Noah back.

_Thanks for the out. You're a life saver._

By the time Noah texts back, Kurt has his drink and is halfway home. 

_No prob. This Kyle chick is pretty boring. I don't even think she noticed me texting._

Kurt smiles and texts back. 

_Do you need to make up an emergency so you can leave?_

_Okay, she did notice me texting_  
threw her drink in my face  
I've had worse blind dates :D

Kurt laughs and stows his phone in his pocket as he crosses the street to his apartment building. It's a five-story building with a courtyard, so it's nice, but it was also built about a hundred years ago, which means that it's falling apart a little. Every time the window sticks or the tiny stove starts smoking ominously, Kurt tells himself that he's had much worse apartments in New York. And besides, he's only here for another three months, until the show is either cancelled, or gets engaged for the full cross-country tour.

It's fine, for now. Kurt wonders if dating Noah Puckerman would also be fine for now, or if he's going to want more out of the man than a three-month fling. 

~*~

Noah watches Kurt respond to his text like the professional actor he is, and then escape his date, walking out of the bar without looking back. The drink to his face is kind of a surprise, but he can't say he blames Kyle. He just can't pay attention to her while Kurt is still texting him back. 

Noah thinks about calling Kurt all night, but figures he doesn’t want to press his luck. Just because Kurt had walked out on that other guy doesn’t mean he will appreciate Noah being too forward. When Noah gets to the studio in the morning (well, more like just before noon, because there’s no point in being there before anyone else), he sits down next to Jen at the mixing board. “So, Kyle is a chick.”

“Yeah.” Jen stops what she’s doing and turns to face Noah. “You thought I’d set you up with a guy? Why did you even agree to go?”

Noah frowns and raises an eyebrow at her.

“Oh.” Jen’s cheeks turn red. “I see. File that under things I didn’t know about Noah Puckerman.” Sitting back in her chair, Jen flips her black hair back over her shoulder. “So, did you like her?”

Noah shrugs. “She was alright, I guess. We didn’t hit it off.”

Jen frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. “What did you do?”

“What makes you think I did something?” Noah puts a hand to his chest, dramatically offended.

Jen’s eyebrows rise expectantly, but when Noah doesn’t relent immediately, she speaks. “Kyle is desperate to get over her ex. If she wasn’t all over you, you must have done something wrong.”

Noah avoids Jen’s gaze for a moment before confessing. “I sort of thought I was on blind date with this guy, instead of her.”

“What?” Jen’s mouth drops open. “Why?”

Noah explains what happened the night before. “And it turns out I actually know him. He’s my friend Finn’s stepbrother!”

“So, you like _him_ , then?” Jen sounds vaguely betrayed.

“Yeah.” Noah grins, partially to get back on Jen's good side and partially because he has an idea. His eyes light up when he looks into the studio and sees his guitar is still in there from recording a track the day before. 

“No,” Jen says, standing up and blocking the door into the studio. “No way.”

Smirking, Noah weaves to the right, testing Jen’s determination. She blocks his path again. “C’mon! I’ve got all these _feelings_ , Jen! I need to get them out through _song_!”

“No! When you started dating Kari, I thought I’d never get that song out of my head! Don’t you dare make a new one!” Jen puts her back against the door, blocking the knob so Noah can’t get to it.

Noah tries a feint, but Jen doesn’t fall for it. Well, if he can’t get to his guitar, he’ll just have to use his voice. “Oh, Kurt! Beside you everyone else looks like … _dirt_! You’ve got a mouth I have to kiss. If you don’t want me, you’d be remiss. Oh–”

Squinting at him, Jen interrupts, asking, “Where did you learn the word ‘remiss’?”

“I went to college, Jen. I’m not illiterate.” Noah rolls his eyes. He knows he puts on a casual air most of the time, because he doesn’t like being a pretentious douchebag like half the people he works with, but sometimes people assume the worst. “Is it the muscles?” Noah puts up his guns. “Do you just assume because I could bench press you, that my brain is the size of a grape?”

“Noooo,” Jen says, shaking her head vigorously. “It’s at least as big as a grapefruit.”

Grinning again, Noah resumes his song. “Lover boy of mine, I bet your cock is divine!”

“Noah!” Jen gasps.

“If you’ve got balls the size of grapefruits, I could still suck them down to the roots!”

“You’re disgusting!” Jen cries, but she’s laughing, so Noah’s pretty sure he’s on the good side of the sexual-harassment line. “You’re never going to be able to put that one on the radio.”

"It doesn't _have_ to play on the radio." Noah snaps his fingers to set up a beat, then sings again. "It just has to get me in his _paaaaants_!"

Jen breaks down laughing, shaking her head and letting him into the studio. "Just be done by the time Avery gets here. They've got time booked and you know how insufferable they are when we're off schedule."

Noah gives Jen a jaunty salute and heads into the studio, picking up his guitar and playing a few chords. The recording light turns on, which makes Noah laugh, but think a little more carefully about the melody he wants to improvise around. This song is just for fun, but hey. If Noah ends up marrying Kurt, it'll be nice to have a recording of the first song Noah wrote about him.

~*~

Kurt's so busy staring at Noah Puckerman's information in his phone that he almost misses his bus stop. He manages to scramble off the bus on time, and stows his phone in his pocket. As he walks uphill, toward the indie coffee place that's on the way to work, Kurt tells himself not to be obsessive. Sure, Kurt feels and easy camaraderie with Noah, and sure their texts are ambiguously flirty. Neither of these aspects of their relationship means that Noah sees Kurt as anything but a friend.

Still, Kurt feels like there's something there.

When he gets to work, Kurt asks his friend James, "How soon is it okay to call someone after you meet them?"

James pushes his black-rimmed glasses back up his nose (Kurt insists lemon yellow frames would look better with his skin tone and make more of a statement, but James refuses to listen to him) and shrugs. "This about that blind date Jennifer set up?"

Kurt looks around to make sure Jennifer isn't in earshot before he answers. "Oh _god_ no. I met someone else."

" _Damn_." James smirks. "You work fast."

Scoffing, Kurt waves James' pseudo-compliment away. "He's an old acquaintance I ran into while I was there." 

James smirks and tilts his head to one side for a moment. "Did you sleep together?"

Kurt blushes and shakes his head.

"I don't got a fuckin' clue." James chuckles and flips the top page on his clipboard. "I've only ever been in two relationships, and _both_ times, the lady called me first."

"Well, you're no help at all." Kurt huffs, but gives James a friendly smile as he walks away. Other people are starting to arrive at the theater for rehearsal, so Kurt tries to put the issue out of his mind. He fails.

Kurt spends most of the day looking at his phone. Finally, he gets to the point where he can’t stand to wait any longer. He picks up his phone and starts to call Noah, before he realizes that maybe he should text instead. _Is it too soon to call you?_

Kurt keeps his phone in his hand as he sits out in the cheap seats of the theater, waiting for the company to start rehearsing the scenes he’s in. By the time Kurt’s scene does roll around, Noah hasn’t texted back. Kurt tells himself that it’s mid afternoon and Noah’s probably still at work, or otherwise engaged in something that he can’t get away from.

He’s distracted while he’s giving his lines, but at this point, it’s all muscle memory and no one says anything about Kurt’s performance. It probably helps that Jude breaks his prop gavel and the prop lady spends twenty minutes coming up with something suitable to stand in until she can get a new one. Jude ends up having to use a toilet paper roll with a pencil stabbed through it and everything just seems silly from there on out.

When Kurt finishes his big end-of-the-second-act song and dance number, and gets back to his phone, there’s a new text waiting for him. And a missed call. Kurt reads the text first.

_Recording tonight. Should be done by 9. You can call me then ;)_

Kurt finds Noah’s use of an old-school emoticon endearing. It reminds Kurt of the emails his step-mother, Carole, sends him, which are always littered with smiley faces. 

“You look besotted,” Jessie says when they sit down next to Kurt. “Is this the boy Jennifer was going to set you up with?”

Kurt fights the smile that spreads across his face as he shakes his head. “A different boy.”

Jessie ruffles a hand back through their short hair and grins. “You didn’t deny the besotted thing.”

“It’s new,” Kurt replies as he types out a response to Noah’s text.

_Talk to you then_

~*~

Noah gets to the coffee house earlier than he normally does on open mic night, and lingers in the doorway, looking over the scant crowd. He doesn't spot Kurt, so he heads for the counter. Ginger gives Noah a nod, "The usual?"

Noah shakes his head. "I'm nervous enough as it is."

She raises her eyebrows at him. "You never get nervous, boy. What's up?"

"Date." Noah hands over a twenty and asks, "Got any Irish back there?"

Ginger rolls her eyes and says, "Decaf mocha," ringing him up. However, when she hands Noah his drink, it tastes vaguely of peppermint schnapps. Noah sticks a ten in the tip jar and heads toward the stage to check in.

He's almost done tuning his guitar so it will be ready by the time it's his turn when someone taps Noah's shoulder. "Hey."

Noah turns to see Kurt standing there, smiling at him. "Just going out for coffee, huh?"

Shrugging, Noah replies, "Well, I figured this was a little more impressive than coffee. Might score myself a second date."

Kurt chuckles. "No, this _is_ the second date. Remember?"

"Oh, we're counting a ten minute conversation as a date?" Noah makes the final adjustments to his B string and then strums a chord to make sure it sounds right, which it does. He winks at Kurt. "Good to know."

Kurt's cheeks blush and he drops his smile into his hand, like he's embarrassed and pleased at the same time. Noah's heart skips a beat.

"In any case, I'm not up until last. Wanna find a seat?" Noah nods out at the room, which is starting to fill up. He sets down his guitar in the case, prays to Jewish God that no one will step on it or try to steal it or something. Then Noah picks up his coffee mug.

"Sure." Kurt leads the way toward one of the smaller tables, where he pulls one of the chairs around the table to sit next to the other. This way both chairs face the stage, but Noah tells himself that Kurt just wants to be close enough to touch him. "This one okay?"

"Perfect." Noah drains the last of his liquid courage and smiles as he smacks his lips. "Well, I need a refill. What can I get for you?"

Kurt replies, but Noah get distracted watching the way his lips move. Some of the ways Kurt makes sounds look a little bit different than the way most people do it, and Noah finds he wants to memorize the patterns, so he'll be able to tell what Kurt's saying even when Noah can't hear him.

Noah realizes Kurt is looking at him expectantly, and maybe with a little disappointment. Shit. "Sorry! I got distracted by your mouth." It's only after the words have left him that Noah realizes how sexual they sounded. "I mean. Shit. Sorry, what was that?"

The worry disappears from Kurt's face and he laughs before pulling a pen out of his jacket pocket. He takes Noah's hand in his, which makes Noah's skin tingle and his cock stir expectantly. Noah bites the inside of his cheek, trying to keep things innocent while Kurt writes his coffee order on Noah's hand. "There."

Noah quickly reads the order to make sure he doesn't have any questions, then he pulls out one of the chairs for Kurt. "Here you go, babe. I'll be right back with drinks."

Kurt rolls his eyes, but he sits down with a laugh. Each time Noah looks back, Kurt is watching him with a smile. 

Noah feels weightless. He feels like he could live for a million years, as long as he keeps getting to see that smile. While he's waiting for the drinks at the counter, the first performer steps up to the mic. Noah isn't sure of her name, but she's a regular at this place, and each of the three songs she plays are ones Noah has heard before. Kurt watches her intently, bobbing his head along to the rhythm. 

Noah hurries back as soon as he gets the drinks, barely avoiding dumping them on a guy who chooses the exact wrong moment to push his chair back. After a close save, Noah takes a little more time weaving through all the people to get back to Kurt. "Here you go," he says in Kurt's ear as he sets down the drinks, pushing Kurt's toward him.

Kurt shiver is satisfying and his grateful smile beautiful. "Thank you, Noah."

They listen to the musician for a few moments before Noah thinks of something to get the conversation going. "Do you usually listen to this kind of music?"

Kurt turns his attention away from the performer and licks the whipped cream from his top lip. He shrugs. "I have broad and eclectic tastes. What about you?"

"Broad, yes," Noah says, thinking of the classical mixed in with the death metal. "Consequence of going to music school for college."

Kurt's eyebrows jump up and with interest in his voice, he says, "Oh?"

“I tend to stick to singer-songwriter, kind of folksy stuff, though.” Noah smiles, maybe a little embarrassed. “I don’t remember the last time anyone’s asked me what I really like. Mostly at work, we get paid to like whoever’s in the studio that day.”

“How often do you get the songs stuck in your head?” Kurt asks, taking a sip of his coffee. 

Noah chuckles and takes a moment to sip his drink as well. Ginger spiked it for him again, and Noah knows he’s going to be nice and relaxed by the time he gets up on stage. “Not as often as you’d think. It’s like, you spend all day focusing on little bits and pieces of the song, so it’s right there in the front of your head. It doesn’t have the space to get caught in the back.”

“Huh.” Kurt looks up, his brows furrowing together. “Now that you mention it, I hardly ever get the songs from the show stuck in my head. It’s always either one I listened to earlier or one I haven’t heard in _months_.”

Noah shares a smile with Kurt and they listen to the music for a few minutes. Though he never lets it show, Noah feels awkward on dates sometimes. Sitting with Kurt feels different. Comfortable. It’s not like they ever hung out together back in Ohio. Maybe it’s just the fact that Noah knows Finn thinks the world of Kurt. Noah’s best friend is an excellent judge of character, even if he was a little naïve during high school. Still, if Finn likes someone, Noah knows he can trust them.

He should have seen his last break up coming when Noah introduced her to Finn and after thirty seconds, Finn’s enthusiasm at meeting her melted away.

Oh well. That’s the sort of thing that fuels his song-writing.

As the musicians change over, Kurt leans closer to Noah and asks, “When are you playing?”

“This guy and then one other, and then me,” Noah replies, taking advantage of how close Kurt is leaning. He closes most of the distance between Kurt and himself, tilting his head but not making contact. “Why? Are you eager to leave?”

“Hardly.” Kurt scoffs and smiles, his eyes meeting Noah’s right before they slip shut and his lips press Noah’s gently. As Kurt pulls back, Noah notices how red Kurt’s cheeks are, but he’s smiling, looking pleased with himself.

Noah feels like he could fly if he wanted. “Good.” Noah puts his hand out on the table, palm up, and shivers with delight when Kurt places his hand in Noah’s without hesitation. It makes drinking the rest of his coffee difficult, but the connection with Kurt is worth it.

They make small chit chat for a while, but mostly they listen to the performers and hold hands. Noah is thinking so much about Kurt that he hardly has time to think about his upcoming performance. That’s okay, though. He’s only doing two songs, and both of them are ones he’s played a hundred times before. He wants to make sure his set impresses Kurt, and how better than to play his two best songs?

Noah doesn’t want to let go of Kurt’s hand when his turn at the mic comes up, but he has to. He unfolds his hand from Kurt’s as Wallace starts his last song, leaning down to whisper in Kurt’s ear. “I won’t be long.”

Kurt smiles up at Noah and replies. “Promise?”

Noah grins and waves as he leaves, nodding a promise. Fuck, he’s so far gone over this guy. It’s a good feeling, one Noah hasn’t felt in some time. It makes it easy to sing his first song, which is a fun one about being in love. It's called "Summer Note" and Noah wrote it about a girlfriend he had during college.

During the whole song, Kurt watches Noah with a smile, swaying his head back and forth in time with the beat. Noah's so caught up watching Kurt that he ends up playing the bridge twice before he realizes he's not paying attention.

The next song is slower, and melancholy. Noah knows it's not the greatest song to end a set on, but it's the one that best characterizes his voice and probably his favorite song that he's written. 

"And when she said  
She'd always try  
She lied, she lied, she lied."

Noah lets his voice fade away with the last chord of the song, then nods and opens his eyes. Kurt is one of the first to start clapping, and when he meets Noah's eyes, it makes Noah smile. He steps off the stage and starts packing up his guitar. The normal coffee shop sounds replace the applause, though the sound of a throat clearing draws Noah's attention.

Kurt stands next to Noah, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes bright. He smiles.

"What did you think?" Noah asks, pulling closed the clasps of his guitar case. 

Nodding, Kurt grins."I liked it. You're really good!"

"Wow." Noah's cheeks heat up. "High praise from a pro!"

Kurt waves him off. "Please. It's not like I've been on Broadway or anything."

Chuckling, Noah says, "I hear a 'but' at the end of that sentence."

Kurt bounces in place. " _But_ , the show my studio is developing will probably end up on Broadway. You know, if we get good reviews."

Noah whistles, impressed. "Wow. When you get all rich and famous, remind me to tell everyone I know that I went on a date with you."

Kurt laughs loudly and hits Noah on the shoulder. "Hey, if you play your cards right, you can say you went on two dates with me."

Laughing, Noah leads the way back through the coffee shop. "Walk me home?" he asks Kurt. They could stay here at the coffee shop, but Noah likes to put some space between himself and the performance. "It's nice out tonight, and I'm only a few blocks away."

Kurt hesitates for a moment, looking down at his hands, which makes Noah's heart drop. 

He adds quickly, "No funny business. I mean, I want to get my guitar home safe. We could go somewhere else, you know, public. If you wanted to."

Rolling his eyes, Kurt shakes his head and takes Noah's arm. "I'd be delighted to walk with you, Noah. I just … I'm not a one-night-stand sort of guy."

"That's cool," Noah says, waiting for Kurt to get the door, since he has his hands full with his guitar on one side and Kurt on the other. "I mean, I can be a one-night-stand sort of guy, but I figure if I did that with you, Finn'd fly out here and kill me himself. Plus," Noah pauses and grins as they step through the doorway, barely losing contact with one another. "I don't think I could live with seeing you just for one night."

Kurt rolls his eyes again, but the pleased curl at the edges of his lips tells a different story. Noah almost breaks down and gives _himself_ a high five for getting Kurt Hummel interested. Instead, he nods to the left. "This way to my place."

They walk in companionable silence for a few dozen feet before Kurt asks a question. "So, back there, I noticed that both of those songs were…" Kurt trails off and Noah cringes, waiting for the worst.

When it doesn't come, he asks, "Yeah?"

"About women," Kurt finishes his thought. "You use feminine pronouns for your lovers in these songs. _Please_ tell me that's just to get more butts in the seats.

Shrugging, Noah says, "I write about my life."

"So, girlfriends are a part of your life?" Kurt aks. He's still holding Noah's arm, but his eyes are up toward the sky.

"Sure are." Noah shrugs and leads Kurt down the side street which leads toward his apartment. "Well, not at this _moment_ , but yeah. They're part of my history."

Kurt asks his follow-up question as they cross at the sidewalk. "What about boyfriends? Are they part of your history?"

Kurt's sneaking glances at Noah, which is ridiculous for men their age, but also adorable, so Noah will allow it. "Yeah. Several boyfriends, dude. What, you worried I won't know what I'm doing?"

Noah has a feeling Kurt's gone bright red, but it's impossible to tell under the orange street lamps. "N-no. I just don't—" Kurt sighs. "I had this one ex..."

"Say no more." Noah holds up his hands. He doesn't want to picture Kurt with anyone else, not this soon. "Let's leave exes in sad songs where they belong."

"Yeah," Kurt replies with a decisive nod. "That sounds like a great idea."

They arrive at Noah's apartment building shortly thereafter. He asks Kurt, "Do you want to come up?" Noah's not sure what will happen is Kurt accepts his invitation, but he's got a few ideas about what he'd like. 

"I do want to," Kurt says, smiling sadly. "But I'm going to take a raincheck. Next time we go out?"

Noah chuckles and nods, stepping closer to Kurt and putting his hand on Kurt's hip. "I'm going to hold you to that promise, you know."

Wrapping his arms around the back of Noah's neck, Kurt closes the gap between them, pressing his chest to Noah's. "I know."

Noah's not sure if he starts the kiss or if it is Kurt, but whoever does it is a genius. Kurt's lips feel warm against Noah's and send electric shivers down Noah's spine. Noah pulls Kurt closer, sinking into the warmth of Kurt's body against his, and he presses the kiss a little deeper. Noah wants to keep holding on, but when Kurt breaks the kiss and pulls back, Noah lets go. 

Cheeks dark and voice breathy, Kurt takes another step back. He grins as he says, "Goodnight, Noah."

"Night." Noah's heart drums in his chest excitedly, drowning out the cold he feels in Kurt's absence. "Call me tomorrow, okay?" Noah points at Kurt to make sure he feels compelled to keep his promise.

Kurt's hand drifts up to his chest and he nods. "Promise."

Noah's cheeks ache from smiling by the time he unlocks the building door and lets himself in. The door pulls shut behind Noah, but he's already halfway up the first staircase, still grinning like a loon. 

This could be good. This _is_ good.

~*~

Kurt can't help but fidget as he waits for Noah to pick him up. He's standing outside his apartment building on a Tuesday afternoon, feeling very conspicuous. In preparation for the show's opening, Kurt has been rehearsing extra hours. It's the first day he's had off since almost a week ago, and he has the feeling Noah lied about also having the day off.

Kurt should be worried about the lie, but mostly he feels flattered that Noah likes Kurt enough to ditch work for a date. 

Noah pulls up two minutes late, the window rolling down as he pulls up to the curb. He's driving a battered sedan that doesn't seem to fit his personality very well. Kurt wonders if he borrowed it just for this occasion. Kurt would have offered to drive, if he'd had a car to begin with. Out the open window, Noah calls, "Hey, sailor! You going my way?" Noah grins, a sight that takes Kurt's breath away.

Kurt hopes he always finds Noah this attractive. He gets into the car and says, "Head south. I'll tell you how to get there."

"How to get there, but not where we're going?" Noah asks, checking his blind spot before pulling back out into traffic. "How mysterious."

A chuckle escapes Kurt's lips before he can stop it, not that he wants to stop it. Unlike most of his recent dates, Kurt doesn't mind looking a little bit like a dork in front of Noah. "What can I say? I tend to go dramatic whenever possible."

Noah shakes his head, but he's laughing too. A surge of affection wells up in Kurt's chest and he tries to hold onto it, despite the voice in his head telling him this is too good to be true.

Kurt directs them onto the freeway and toward the airport, assuring Noah that he hasn't bought tickets to Vegas. They exit the freeway a few miles north of the airport, in the middle of a very industrial part of town.

While they wait at a stoplight, Noah asks, "You're not taking me here to kill me and dump my body, are you?"

Kurt pulls a disgusted face. "Murder? In _these_ clothes?" He gestures to the cream-colored slacks and the silk shirt he's wearing. "I don't think so. You're safe this time, Puckerman."

Noah laughs again and pulls through the intersection, as the light has turned green. 

Kurt directs Noah through a few more turns and then points at a large building in front of them, and the bomber plane sitting in front of it. "Here it is."

"Museum of Flight," Noah says, reading from the sign at the entrance to the parking lot. "Huh. Totally not what I expected you to pick."

Kurt shrugs. "I've been meaning to get down here since I came to Seattle, and just haven't found the time. I– Well, I mean, my dad is a mechanic. I grew up on cars and planes. Why? Are you going to be totally bored here?"

"No way, man," Noah says, pulling into a parking spot. The lot is surprisingly empty, but Kurt reasons that it is a weekday, and most people are at work. "I almost joined the air force after high school, you know."

"I did not know." Kurt climbs out of the car and holds his hand out toward Noah. "Why didn't you?"

Noah takes Kurt's hand in his, grasping it firmly. He smiles. "Got into college. Scholarship and everything. Surprised the shit out of me, but I went."

Kurt chuckles. He seems to remember that Noah didn't like school. Since they attended different schools, Kurt has no idea about the kind of grades Noah earned. To find out, Kurt asks, "You weren't the best student?"

"Not really." Noah steps forward and holds open the door for Kurt. “I didn’t really see the point to school. Plus, I was kind of a little shit. I thought someone was just going to find me and turn me into a rock star.”

Kurt chuckles, leading the way up to the ticket counter and paying for both of them before Noah can argue. “No. You drove, I’m paying for the tickets.”

“Alright.” Noah holds up his hands defensively. “That’s cool.”

The clerk gives Kurt two lime green wrist bands, which clash with his outfit, but there’s nothing to be done about that. Holding up one of the wrist bands, Kurt says, “Here. Give me your wrist.”

Noah smirks and holds up one of his arms. Kurt peels the backing away from the adhesive and wraps the wristband around Noah’s arm, fastening it and letting his hands linger against Noah’s skin. Noah smiles at Kurt and leans in, pressing a kiss to Kurt’s lips. The kiss is horribly exciting and intensely comfortable, and Kurt half wishes he’d just invited Noah over for TV and an epic make out session. 

This is good, though. Kurt gives the other wristband to Noah and holds up his own arm. “Would you do the honors?”

Noah secures the wristband and gives Kurt another kiss before folding their hands together. “Let’s go see some planes.”

Kurt lets Noah lead him toward the big gallery full of planes, many of which hang from the ceiling, though there are plenty on the showroom floor as well. He watches Noah’s profile as he looks up at the ultralight glider hanging in front of them, lips parting in wonder. “So, no one came and made you a rock star, huh?”

Noah laughs. “Yeah, not so much. I had this teacher, though. In high school. Ms. Kinkaid. She really fixed me up, you know? Before she caught me fucking around on the piano in her orchestra room, I was just this jock asshole who chased after girls all the time.”

Kurt smiles and pulls Noah by his hand over toward one of the older fighter planes on the showroom floor. “We had a teacher kind of like that at McKinley.”

“Mr. Schue, right?” Noah asks, laughing. “God, for the longest time Finn wouldn’t shut up about that guy. I almost thought maybe he and Finn were fucking.”

Gasping, Kurt turns wide eyes toward Noah. “Finn and Mr. Schue? Oh, my god, why did you have to put that image in my brain?”

Laughing so loudly it catches the attention of an elderly man standing further down the row of planes, Noah says, “You’re welcome.”

“And seriously, they are two of the straightest men I’ve ever known. Even if there was something going on between them, I doubt either of them would know what to do.” Kurt chuckles again, shaking his head. “Sorry, I totally distracted you from your story about Ms. Kinkaid.”

Noah wraps his arm around Kurt’s shoulders, kissing Kurt on the cheek. “That’s alright. She just—she’s got this way of making you excited about music, you know? And not just one kind of music, but like _all_ music. I joined the orchestra as the only piano player in the history of the school. I had this–this purpose in that class that I didn’t have anywhere else.”

Kurt nods, leaning his head against Noah’s shoulder and sighing. It sounds a lot like what Kurt got out of Mr. Schue’s glee club. “You used to live in Lima, right? That’s how you met Finn?”

“Yeah, lived in the same apartment complex as him and Carole for a few years. We had to move away from Lima to go live with my grandma when my dad stopped paying child support. I had friends in my new place, but I didn’t have a Finn. God, don’t ever tell Finn this, but I used to be half in love with the dude.”

“Oh, my god!” Kurt cries. “Me too!”

Noah rolls his eyes, but laughs. "Is there anyone who doesn't love Finn?"

"Not that I ever met," Kurt says, pulling Noah toward where you can sit in a real fighter plane. "Finn even turned my high school bully into my high school boyfriend, somehow."

They wait for a group of kids to each take a turn sitting in the cockpit of the fighter plane. "Never had a high school boyfriend," Noah says, looking up at the underbelly of the plane suspended above them. "Couple of girlfriends, though."

"I only had two," Kurt says. "It was hard, being out in Ohio back then. I didn't have a lot of options."

"I'd say I knew what you were talking about," Noah clears his throat. "Just, I didn't figure out I wasn't straight until college. Go figure, huh?"

"Yeah, go figure." Kurt takes a moment to read about Amelia Earhart before returning to the conversation. He envies Noah a little, because there was no way Kurt was going to pass as straight in high school. Everyone already knew before he even came out. He doesn't regret it, but he can see how life could be easier inside the closet, rather than out of it. "What school did you end up going to?"

"Illinois," Noah says. "The one in Urbana-Champaign. How about you?"

"NYU," Kurt says. "Steinhardt. There's no way I'd be part of a production heading toward Broadway if I hadn't gotten in."

Noah looks down, nodding. "How long until you go?"

"Our initial run here in Seattle is eight weeks," Kurt says. "Then, if we get good enough reviews, six weeks each in San Francisco and Chicago before we hit New York."

Noah takes a deep breath and lets it go. When he looks up, Kurt winces, but Noah is smiling. "I guess we'll have to make the best of the time we have."

"You're exactly right." Kurt offers Noah his hand, and sighs in relief when Noah takes it. They wander around the rest of the showroom for awhile, even checking out the space section. Eventually, Kurt has to say, "I'm sorry I didn't make it clear that I'm only in town for a few more months. It's one of those things that Jennifer told the _other_ Noah, and then I just forgot she didn't tell you anything."

"Forget about it," Noah says, taking Kurt past the gift shop and toward a door that heads outside. "Now are we gonna have fun going and sitting on Air Force One, or are you gonna be a downer the rest of the afternoon?"

Kurt chuckles and rolls his eyes, but nods as well. "Let's have fun. Lead the way!"

~*~

Noah doesn't see Kurt again before the opening night of his play, because Kurt has been too busy to eat, much less go on a date. He almost thinks maybe Kurt's letting this thing between them fade, because he thinks Noah can't handle the fact that it has to be short-term. Kurt belongs in New York, on Broadway. Noah belongs here. He's made a whole life for himself here. The only thing he finds himself missing is a significant other. Sure, Noah's not a rock star, and his songs haven't really made it onto the radio, but he's got a steady paycheck and life is good.

Noah's in the middle of a recording session (luckily at the controls, not in the booth) when he finally gets a text from Kurt. 

_Oh, my god, it's Monday already! I meant to call you this weekend!_

Before Noah can answer, Kurt continues.

_I've put a ticket for you at will call. Friday. Curtain at 8. Finn will be there._

Oh. Kurt's just helping Noah reconnect with his best friend. Right. 

The band breaks for a rest, so Noah takes the opportunity to call Finn. "Yo," he says when Finn picks up. "You're coming to Seattle this weekend?"

"What?" Finn shuffles around for a second. "Oh, that's this weekend! Right. Yeah, I'm going to my brother's show. Hey, I was going to call you. Want to get together while I'm in town? Go get a beer?"

"Yeah, Finn," Noah says, shaking his head fondly. "I'll be at the show, too. Kurt told me you were coming."

Finn laughs. "No, way! I didn't know you and Kurt knew each other!"

Kurt hasn't told Finn about dating Noah, that much is obvious. Is Kurt afraid of Finn's reaction? Is he ashamed to be dating Noah? "We've gone out a few times," Noah says carefully. "On _dates_."

"Really?" Finn laughs again. "Dude, that's awesome!"

Noah lets out the breath he'd been holding, relieved. Kurt must've been too busy to mention his love life to Finn. "Really?"

"Sure! Kurt is way more awesome than that Wanda girl you were dating last year. You know, the one you brought home to Ohio over Christmas?"

Rolling his eyes, Noah says, "Yeah, I know the one." He realizes his cheeks are starting to ache from smiling. It's a common occurrence whenever he talks to Finn. "So, I'll see you when you get to town?"

"Sure," Finn replies before giving a distressed noise. "I gotta go. One of the kids is trying to eat glitter."

"Bye."

Noah hangs up, feeling a lot better than he did ten minutes ago. He looks at his phone again and answers Kurt's text.

_I'll be there with bells on. Break a leg._

Kurt responds three hours later.

_Looking forward to finally seeing you again!_

Noah smiles at his phone all through dinner with his buddies Lou and Remi. They give him shit about it, but Noah doesn't care. He needs to figure out where this thing with Kurt is going, because if it's going where he wants it to go, things are gonna get awesome. Of course then they're gonna get complicated and hard, but right now, Noah's focusing on the awesome part.

~*~

Kurt feels kind of like he's too nervous to be nervous. He should be panicking, because even though they've rehearsed this show to death, if something goes wrong, it'll be a major setback in his career. If something goes horribly, terribly wrong, _Crash_ could begin and end here in Seattle.

He peeks out into the audience and sees Noah and Finn sitting together. They're talking and laughing and Kurt wishes he could hear their conversation. He doesn't _think_ they'd be laughing about _him_ , but you never know. Maybe they're taking bets over how long the show will go on before someone falls off the stage. 

Kurt watched Betty Newhaven succumb to a inner ear infection (though the booze didn't help) and fall off stage during the third run of their senior musical. She broke her leg in three places and split her lip. It took ages to heal.

No. Kurt has practiced this. He and his fellow cast mates and crew have been working on this play inside and out for two long months. It's ready.

Kurt just isn't quite sure it's ready for certain people to see. It's not like the character he's playing is very sympathetic. Clever? Yes. Sympathetic? Not on your life. Kurt kind of doesn't want Noah to see him that way, even if he is playing a character. 

Maybe Finn's presence will distract Noah significantly and he won't really notice Kurt. Except Kurt specifically invited Noah to come see him in the play, like Noah is his boyfriend, even though they've only been on a few dates. 

Sensing that he is starting to get worked up over something that is probably nothing, Kurt takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He has a show to put on, this is no time to panic. If Noah comes, which he said he was going to, it means that he likes Kurt, right? Or he's just coming to hang out with Finn.

At least Kurt is pretty sure Finn won't let Noah mock his performance.

Oh, boy.

~*~

Noah doesn't really own a suit, but he has a pair of dress pants and a sport coat, so he puts those on and goes to meet Finn at the theater. Noah looks around for a few minutes, feeling fairly okay about his outfit, since there's a guy in skinny jeans and a corduroy jacket with funky elbow patches. At least Noah looks better than him. 

Part if Noah wishes he'd saved his performance clothes from college, but he left a lot of stuff behind when he moved West for this job, and fancy clothes hadn't seemed more important than making sure all his instruments made the trip.

A hand claps down on Noah's shoulder, startling him until he realizes it's Finn. "Hey, dude!" Finn says, his wide smile punctuated by more crows' feet than had been there even a year before. Finn pulls Noah into a hug that Noah sinks into readily, realizing that it's been far too long since anyone's hugged him.

"Hey!" Noah says in reply as the hug breaks a few seconds later. "I try to get you to come visit for three years, and it's a play that finally gets you out to Seattle?"

Finn gives Noah a mock-offended look and says, "C'mon, man! It's a long trip and I've been super busy. I'm probably only here now because my mom said to come 'or else' because she and Burt couldn't make it."

Noah raises an eyebrow at Finn. "Parents pay for your plane ticket?"

"Yeah." Finn blushes a little and clears his throat. "How's the music going?"

They talk shop as they find their seats, since Finn still has these music dreams that Noah has always found really vague, seeing as how he became an elementary school teacher, not a music teacher. Whatever. If Finn likes hearing about the business, Noah is happy to regale him with it. Sitting down in his assigned seat, Finn looks down at the program he was given at the door and asks, "So, what's this play about, again?"

"That big stock market crash in '08," Noah replies, taking a look at his own program and opening it up so he can find Kurt's name.

Finn snorts. "You can make a _musical_ about that?"

"You can make a musical about almost anything." Noah finds Kurt's name and runs his finger over it before he decides he's being too sentimental and not realistic enough. "Didn't you hear about that Spider-Man musical when we were in high school?"

"I maybe heard Kurt talk about that once or twice." Finn laughs and scratches his chin with one hand. "He said it was spectacularly bad."

Noah chuckles as well. "Well, it had its problems."

"You _saw_ it?"

"A bootleg," Noah admits, rolling his eyes when Finn gives him a look. "What? I went to college with music nerds. It was bound to come up."

Finn holds up his hands. "No judgement!" He nods up at the stage. "Do you know what role Kurt's playing?"

"I think he's one of the good guys." Noah opens the program again and sees Kurt's name listed next to the name of his character, but there isn't anything written about the character. "He said he has a song about bubbles bursting."

Finn chuckles. "I'm looking forward to seeing that!"

"I'm looking forward to seeing all the 2008 clothes! Do you remember how ridiculous we looked?" Noah runs a hand back through his hair, and Finn takes that as an invitation to muss it up. "Hey!"

"Some of us were very stylish and handsome freshmen in highschool, dude." Finn looks up for a moment. "Yeah, I think I still wear some of my clothes from senior year. You know, the ones I got after that big growth spurt."

Noah grins and pushes Finn's arm. "I saw you like, every weekend, dude, and I _swear_ you grew six inches every week."

"Nah." Finn grins, though. He's always been so smug about the year he got taller than Noah. "Maybe three inches."

The lights begin to dim and Noah seals his mouth shut, as do most of the people around them. The theater goes creepily quiet, except for one couple being shown to their seats. Noah notices how lightly the usher treads when she goes back up the aisle and he wonders if she's naturally good at that or if it's something ushers practice.

He wonders if she'd make a good burglar.

The show begins and Noah finds his first impression of the music isn't too unfavorable. There's some compelling harmonies, but the complexity is a little lacking for his taste. A few minutes in, Finn leans toward Noah and opens his mouth like he's about to make a comment. Noah has heard more than a few stories from his friend Brian about getting kicked out of theaters for talking, so he shakes his head at Finn. 

Finn seems to get the message, because he nods, shrugs, and then sits back in his seat.

It takes almost twenty minutes before Kurt shows up on stage, but Noah spots precisely when it happens. He comes onto stage with two other men and a woman, briefcases in all of their hands. The briefcases rise up as all four of them turn in unison. 

There's a little more dancing before the music ends, and Kurt is still on stage as the dialogue begins. There's a bit of back and forth between the main character and the bad guy before Kurt's character comes to the defense of the main character. His voice carries through the theater and Noah barely recognizes it, because he's pitched it a little lower than his normal speaking tone, and he's speaking in an accent that reminds Noah of his Aunt Connie. 

Watching Kurt deliver his lines with a fervor that matches his character, Noah loses track of the story. If Noah thought he was in trouble before this, he was mistaken. He's in trouble now. 

Noah Puckerman has gone and fallen in love.

After the show, while they’re waiting for Kurt to finish up, Noah asks Finn, “You’ve been to New York, right?”

“Sure,” Finn says with a shrug. “Kurt insists on ‘hosting’ a least one family holiday every year. Why?”

“Do you think I’d like it there? Like, living there?” If anyone’s going to give Noah a good answer, it’s Finn. He’s known Noah since they were little, and he knows New York. No one else on the planet would be able to tell Noah yes or no. 

Finn’s brows furrow, and he hesitates for a moment. Finn shifts from one foot to the other, then scratches his chin. Finally he shrugs. “Yeah, I think so. It’s not that much different from any other place. Bigger. Takes forever to get anywhere. You’d be okay, I think. Why?”

Noah sees Kurt leaving the backstage area, talking with one of his coworkers, so he shakes his head. “No reason.” 

~*~

Kurt’s entire performance company gathers the next day with a truck load of Noah’s Bagels (not Kurt’s Noah, though Kurt smiles at the name on the paper boxes and wonders if he can swipe one to set aside for his Noah). The director reads the reviews from the two daily papers and a few Seattle-specific theater blogs. “ _Crash_ makes financial ruin exciting with its upbeat book and colorful dance numbers,” reads one of the reviews, and Kurt cheers with everyone else.

There are a few more mixed reviews, but the majority of the responses so far are great. “Sounds like we’ll make it to Broadway,” Jennifer whispers to Kurt, sharing an excited grin with him.

As soon as Jennifer turns away to talk to someone else, Kurt’s grin drops a little. Broadway. It’s everything Kurt’s been working toward for years. It’s in New York, which Kurt considers his home now. New York is perfect, except for one thing.

Noah lives in Seattle.

~*~

“I don’t really _cook_ in my kitchen,” Noah says, by way of explanation when he shows Kurt in, taking a few of the many bags Kurt’s carrying. “Though it looks like you brought a whole kitchen with you, so no problem.”

Kurt chuckles. “I promise, I’ve brought everything we’ll need. It’ll be fun cooking together.”

Noah eyes the proceedings dubiously, but follows suit when Kurt starts unpacking the bags. “As long as you know what you’re doing. Except for like, brownies, I’m a strictly cold cereal and take out kind of guy.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow at Noah, which makes Noah laugh because the expression makes Kurt look both otherworldly and completely human at the same time. In a low, sarcastic voice, Kurt says, “I pray for your arteries.”

Taking a whole chicken out of one of the bags, Noah lets it down heavily onto the kitchen table. He bought the table at a yard sale, which means it’s a little rickety and it rattles when the chicken hits it. Noah returns Kurt’s startled look with a grin. “Okay, Top Chef. How do we do this thing?”

Kurt orders Noah around like a kind dictator, telling him _exactly_ how to do each task he’s set to, like there’s a way to mess up chopping vegetables. Noah could see how Kurt’s fastidiousness might get on someone’s nerves, but Noah appreciates it. When artists come into his studio to record but can’t tell him exactly what they want, his process takes ten times as long. 

Noah has come to appreciate clear vision.

The chicken goes in the oven to roast first, and Noah doesn’t think he’s been allowed to touch the bird, save from taking it out of the bag in the first place. He’s been relegated to chopping a series of root vegetables. Noah recognizes the potatoes and carrots, but then there’s a few whose names Kurt says, but Noah doesn’t catch. They look like they could be potatoes. Or carrots. Maybe yams? Noah only sees yams at Thanksgiving, and only then after they’ve been cooked.

“What are these things, again?” Noah asks as he keeps chopping.

Kurt looks up from his sauce. There’s this expression that crosses his face, like Noah’s an idiot, but it quickly vanishes into a fond eye roll. “Sweet potatoes. You’ve _never_ had sweet potato fries? They even have them at MacDonald’s these days.” 

Oh. Sweet potatoes. He should have guessed. Noah feels his face grow hot with a touch of embarrassment. He hasn’t felt this dumb since high school, before Ms. Kinkaid took an interest in his education. Noah knows he’s not stupid, even if he comes off that way sometimes because he doesn’t like reading fancy literature and he doesn’t see the point of learning about things he’s not interested in. He hopes Kurt doesn’t think he’s stupid. 

Noah looks up and sees Kurt waiting for a response, so he goes with his gut and says, “My Aunt Connie was diabetic. I like regular potatoes well enough. Thought I shouldn’t push it with sweet ones.” He gives Kurt an innocent, blank stare and waits.

It takes Kurt a few moments, during which Kurt’s mouth falls open in surprise. “But– That’s not–“

Noah grins.

Kurt slumps a little, but the edges of his mouth twitch up. “You jerk! You’re fucking with me!”

“Not yet.” Noah looks Kurt up and down with a leer.

Laughing, Kurt crosses the distance between them and pulls Noah in by his collar. Noah lets Kurt kiss him full on the mouth. When Kurt lets Noah go, he says, “You know, we’re going to have to make this a weekly tradition.”

“What, cooking together?” Noah goes back to slicing up the sweet potato like Kurt showed him. “Or kissing? Because if it’s kissing, I want kisses more often than weekly. I’m just sayin.”

“Cooking together of course,” Kurt says, reaching over to smack Noah lightly on the shoulder. “Your health practically demands it. Tell me, how often do you eat fresh fruits and vegetables? And be honest.”

“Do you mother everyone you date?” Noah asks, dumping his completed pile of sweet potatoes into their bowl. “Or am I just lucky?”

Noah watches Kurt’s cheek go pink as he keeps his head down and his focus on the saucepan in front of him. After a moment, Kurt says, “Both, I guess. Does it bother you? I can try to stop.”

“Eh,” Noah shrugs and joins Kurt at the stove. He steps behind Kurt and puts his arms around Kurt’s waist. “It’s good. I probably need someone taking care of me.”

Kurt leans back against Noah, though he doesn’t stop stirring his sauce. “I shudder to think of what will happen when I have to leave.”

Noah knows he just said he needs someone to take care of him, but the reminder that Kurt is only in town for another seven weeks feels like cold stab to his gut. He lets go of Kurt and takes a few steps away, saying, “I survived twenty-four years without you. I can do it again.”

Sighing, Kurt turns to face Noah. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Look, I know, okay. I know you’re not staying. Let’s not pretend like you are.” Noah sighs as well and pulls out one of the kitchen chairs, slumping down into it.

“What do you want me to do?” Kurt asks, his voice harder than Noah’s heard it, save the night he saw Kurt’s show. “If we can’t pretend, maybe I should just go.” Kurt starts gathering things up and shoving them back into the empty shopping bags.

Kurt’s about to grab a bottle of some herb and Noah can’t let it happen. He can’t let Kurt leave. Not like this. He grabs the bottle and clutches it to his chest. “No.”

“Noah. Give me the rosemary.” Kurt glares at Noah, his eyes icy and the rest of his face blank, except for the blush on his cheeks. 

“No.” Noah holds the bottle up higher, like that’s going to keep Kurt from getting it. “You can’t leave.”

“I _have_ to,” Kurt cries, pressing himself to Noah’s front and reaching up for the bottle. He’s almost as tall as Noah, so his fingers brush Noah’s wrist, even when Noah throws his arm back as far as it can go. “Noah, I _have_ to go. Let me go!”

“I _can’t_ ,” Noah cries, suddenly realizing how stupid this game of keep away has become. He lowers his arm and lets Kurt snatch the bottle out of his hand. “God damn it, Kurt. How am I supposed to do this?”

Kurt stops packing things away and looks down at his hands, resting on top of the table. “I don’t know, either.”

Noah stops halfway through taking a deep breath to ask, “Is something burning?”

Gaze snapping back toward the stove, Kurt’s mouth drops open in surprise. “Oh! My sauce!” He rushes forward and pulls the pan off of the burner, making a noise of dismay. “Oh, look what we’ve done.”

“Is dinner fucked?” Noah’s tongue feels fat in his mouth and his heart hammers in his chest.

Kurt looks over at Noah, his brows drawn together and his eyes shiny. In the matter of two seconds, Kurt pulls himself together, wiping his eyes and standing taller. “No. We’ll start the sauce again. Cut some more of that onion.”

“For the sauce, or as punishment?” Noah asks, giving Kurt a little smile that he hopes will diffuse the situation a little. 

Rather than diffusing the situation, Noah’s smile manages to swing it in the completely opposite direction. Kurt bursts out into laughter. “Oh, my god!”

Unconsciously, Noah lets his smile broaden, even if he doesn’t get what’s so funny. “What?”

Kurt shakes his head and calms down. “I couldn’t explain it if I tried. Hey, you got any wine?”

Noah rolls his eyes. “Do I look like the kind of guy who has wine? I’ve got beer or rum.”

“Rum,” Kurt decides, walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out the jug of orange juice he brought for the sauce. He pours some of it into a glass, and another portion into another one of Noah’s pots, this one slightly bigger than the last. “Unless you’d rather not get drunk over dinner in order to forget the unfortunate end point we have built in here.”

“Alcohol it is.” Noah opens one of his food cabinets and reaches up to the top shelf, where he’s got most of a bottle of Captain Morgan and a tiny bit of Fireball left from the last party he hosted with some of his flag football buddies. He plonks it down onto the counter next to Kurt.

Kurt takes it and unscrews the cap with capable fingers before pouring a good shot into his glass of juice. “Would you like one as well?”

“I don’t leave my guests drinking alone,” Noah replies, getting his own glass down from the cupboard. "Besides, if I'm not drunk, too, my plans for later would be considered taking advantage."

"Plans for later?" Kurt laughs, his cheeks going pink. "What makes you think I'm that kind of girl?"

Noah rolls his eyes. "Don't think I don't notice you noticing my ass every time I turn my back." Smirking, Noah wiggles his hips a few times.

Kurt laughs. "Don't distract me from my sauce again! We only have so many pans to work with!"

Noah turns back to his work, glad to find a smile on his face. Still, the argument from earlier weighs on him. He never thought he'd be the kind of guy to wonder where a relationship was going, but he seems to find himself grieving over something that hasn't ended yet.

After dinner, which turns out well, despite the false start, Noah invites Kurt to sit on the living room couch with him. "C'mon. We're just gonna sit."

"Why do I have a feeling like I shouldn't believe you?" Kurt asks, but he lets Noah grasp his hand and lead him over to the couch.

Noah sits down and pulls Kurt down next to him. "Thanks again for dinner. I haven't eaten that well in a long time."

"Like I said, we'll have to make it a regular occurrence." Kurt looks away, and Noah feels the air between them grow tense again, despite the two cocktails they'd both had before and during dinner.

"Hey." Noah puts a hand up to Kurt's chin and gently turns him until he's facing Noah. "Can I taste that dinner again?"

"We can make the same thing next week if you want. I was thinking that—"

Noah cuts Kurt off by kissing him. When he does catch the taste of orange sauce and rum, Noah laughs into the kiss. "There it is," he says by way of explanation.

Kurt smiles back at Noah before meeting him halfway for another kiss. He groans. "Why did I eat so much? I just want to— But, I'm so _full_! This sucks."

"We could make out for the next two hours while our food settles," Noah suggests with a shrug. "I'll put on a stupid movie and we'll pretend to watch it, but then we won't."

A bright smile spreads across Kurt's face. "That sounds perfect."

~*~

As Kurt sits on the couch, watching Noah pick out a movie, he bites his tongue for the third or fourth time that night. He'd resolved earlier to bite his tongue every time he felt like saying something stupid about how this had to be a short-term thing. People do short relationships all the time, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Still, maybe this is wrong for Kurt. With no future to look forward to, all of Kurt's little relationship habits, like imagining their wedding or their honeymoon, or their tenth anniversary party, seem pointless. Kurt should make his excuses and leave before Noah picks out that movie. Kurt knows he should do this, but he can't seem to do anything but sit on Noah's couch and watch as Noah flips through the files on his movie box. 

Kurt doesn't really notice which movie Noah picked out, because as soon as Noah sits back down, Kurt gives in and kisses him again. Suddenly, the uncomfortable stretch in his stomach doesn't feel so bad. Kurt puts his hands up to Noah's face and kisses him harder, licking into his mouth. As Noah kisses back, Kurt's breath comes short and he feels desperate to get out of his skin, or maybe just out of his clothes. 

"Oh, god," Kurt whispers, smiling at Noah. "It's been awhile since I've done this."

Noah grins. "Done what? Made out with someone?"

"Yeah." Letting his hand run down the not skin on the side of Noah's neck, Kurt traces his palm down Noah's shoulder and side. "You probably make out with people all the time."

"If I did, do you think I'd agree to go on a blind date?" Noah chuckles against Kurt's neck and it sends a shiver down Kurt's spine. "Nah, it's been awhile for me, too."

"Can we–" Kurt cuts himself off by turning to catch Noah's lips in another kiss. "Can I– Your shirt?"

Nodding, Noah pulls back, hooking his fingers under the hem of his shirt and pulling it off. He's as muscular under his clothes as Kurt guessed he might be. Kurt's mouth waters. "Oh, my god."

Noah smirks. He reaches for the buttons on Kurt's vest. "Fair's fair."

After both their shirts are off, Kurt's brain floods with the feeling of skin against his. Noah's hands grip at Kurt's sides and hips, his lips and tongue press against Kurt's mouth. 

Drawing back, Noah whispers, "Kurt, I want you so bad."

"Uh-huh," Kurt replies, not really processing the words because Noah took his lips away and he should never, ever take his lips away. He pulls Noah in closer and lays back on the couch, pulling Noah with him. Noah lands heavily on Kurt, magnifying the discomfort of his full stomach, but Kurt doesn't care. At this point, he's desperate to get at Noah in any way he can.

Instead of slotting between Kurt's legs, like Kurt expected of him, Noah straddles Kurt's thighs, kissing Kurt deeply as his hands work on Kurt's fly. Kurt digs his fingers into the flesh of Noah's back and sighs. "Yes. C'mon."

Once he gets Kurt's pants open, Noah lifts away, which leaves Kurt cold. Still, there's some satisfaction to be had in watching the way Noah undoes his own jeans and wriggles out of them, his erection bobbing as he moves. Kurt pulls himself away from watching long enough to push his pants and underwear down, past where Noah is still half on top of him, and kick them off. 

Kurt's laying naked in front of Noah, feeling like he's about to be devoured in the best way possible. "What do you want to do?" Kurt reaches forward, pulling Noah down onto him again. "I mean, what do you like?"

"Lots of things," Noah says, planting his forearms on either side of Kurt's head and lowering himself in for a kiss. "Normally at this point, I'd rock your world, inside and out."

Kurt chuckles. "And this time?"

Noah kisses Kurt again, pressing deeply and fully for a long moment before pulling back far enough to lick into Kurt's mouth again. Kurt groans as Noah pulls back. "This time I just…" Noah sighs, his eyes dark and trained on Kurt's face. "I just want to kiss you, like, forever."

Heart swelling and chest going tight, Kurt fights back the way his eyes want to well over with the strength of his feelings. Kurt isn't even sure _what_ he's feeling, aside from intense fondness, and the strength of it scares him. Never having been one to shy away from risks, Kurt replies, "Yeah, we can do that."

A smile blossoms on Noah's face and he presses another of those long, slow kisses against Kurt's lips. He keeps his hips raised and tilted away from Kurt, which Kurt thinks is silly. They're naked now, so they might as well take advantage of it. He grasps Noah's hips and guides Noah down against him, thrusting up against Noah's hip and belly in the same motion.

It's been longer than Kurt would like since he's been naked with someone, and that makes the friction of Noah's warm skin against Kurt's cock _heavenly_. Still kissing Noah, Kurt groans. He can't help it. As Kurt tilts his hips back and then up again, it feels like he's being weighed down by a cloud of ecstatic bliss. 

"Shit," Noah whispers against Kurt's lips as he starts thrusting as well. It occurs to Kurt that this would feel better with a little lube, but like hell is he going to stop this now. "Kurt!"

Kurt responds by sucking Noah's tongue into his mouth. Noah's hips stutter. Kurt palms the globes of Noah's ass and sucks on his tongue again. Noah full-on moans and Kurt has a few seconds to feel proud of himself before realizing he's a few good thrusts away from coming.

Part of Kurt wants to give Noah some warning that he's not going to last, because he doesn't know Noah's opinions on getting bodily fluids all over himself. The other part of Kurt doesn't want to stop biting at Noah's lips long enough to get the warning out. He makes a series of urgent noises in the back of his throat, hoping that gets the message across.

If the message does get across, it just makes Noah thrust that much faster against Kurt, their combined sweat starting to reduce the friction. It's not quite enough for full-on frottage, but simple grinding against Noah's hip, and Noah against Kurt, is about to do Kurt in. He feels his whole body flush and he pulls away from Noah's lips long enough to cry out as he loses his battle to hold on, and comes.

Everything goes black and sound loses meaning. Kurt's fingers and toes and face tingle. His heart skips a beat or three. Kurt thinks he shouldn't compare an orgasm he got from simple, objectively-not-perfect frottage to seeing the face of God, but damn if he doesn't want to. "Shit, shit, shit," Noah murmurs, shifting over just enough to rub his cock through some of the mess Kurt has made between them. Noah sucks on Kurt's lips again, and Kurt realizes he's holding onto Noah so tightly it has to be difficult for him to breathe.

It's probably some sort of unconscious payback, Kurt thinks, because he's still holding his own breath, coming down from an orgasm that caught him off guard with its strength. His fondness for Noah feels a hundred times stronger than it did ten minutes ago, and frankly, Kurt feels like he might cry with the strength of it. Kurt is not one to leave his partners unsatisfied, even under intense emotional pressure.

Getting one hand on the back of Noah's neck, Kurt holds him close, so he'll keep kissing Kurt. WIth his other hand, Kurt reaches down between them and gets his hand around Noah's cock. Noah groans deeply and lifts up, planting one knee beside Kurt's hip to give Kurt room to work. It takes only a few strokes before Noah comes, his cock jumping in Kurt's hand, his come joining Kurt's between them.

After the waves of his orgasm peter out, Noah pulls away from Kurt's lips, pressing his forehead to Kurt's and breathing out slowly. "Kurt," Noah says, his voice cracking. "Kurt."

"Yeah," Kurt says, not quite sure what he's agreeing to, except that he's in an extremely agreeable mood. Kurt giggles.

He feels Noah's lips smile against his own and Noah breathes out what could be a laugh as he presses one more kiss to Kurt's as-good-as-numb lips.

~*~

The first thing Noah does when he’s done with work is text Kurt.

_Am I going to see you tonight?_

It’s been difficult to see Kurt more than two, maybe three times a week, because since the show started, Kurt’s been working late into the night, while Noah still works relatively standard hours during the day. Still, Noah knows that the show is dark tonight, and even though they just had their third weekly dinner date the night before, Noah can’t help but feel like he has to grasp at whatever time he and Kurt can find together.

Instead of a text, Noah gets a call in response. He walks the last few steps to his car and sits in the shade of the building next to it while he answers the phone. “Hey, baby. What’re you wearing?”

Kurt laughs. Noah recognizes it as the laugh that would get Noah a cuff upside the head if Kurt had been there with him. “One of my coworkers invited me to an informal get-together. We just got word that the next leg of our tour has been approved.”

“Congratulations,” Noah says, though he knows his upbeat tone is forced. It’s going to be Sunday again before he sees Kurt, he knows it. There are only three Sundays left before the show is scheduled to close. Now that the company is moving to San Francisco, it’s even less likely that Kurt will stay in Seattle past then. Maybe now is the time to break this off, before Noah gets in any deeper. Saying goodbye is going to hurt, but it’s for the best, right?

“Do you want to come with me?” Kurt asks. Noah’s heart skips a beat. Could he really do that? Uproot the life he’s built here and move with Kurt to San Francisco for the next couple of months? How will he earn a living? Noah knows how to write songs, but most of his income comes from the work he does at the studio. He’s sure as hell not going to mooch off Kurt. Maybe if Noah talks to his agent– “To the party, I mean. I know you don’t know anyone there, but it’ll be fun. I promise.”

Noah’s stomach drops to the floor. Kurt doesn’t want Noah to come with him on tour. Kurt’s fine leaving Noah here in Seattle. Their relationship will be a distant, if fond, memory by the time Kurt gets to New York and Broadway. That’s fine. “Yeah, sure,” Noah says, fishing his keys out of his pocket. “When should I pick you up?”

“It’s actually in my building. James has a unit on another floor. You could come by earlier, though. If you wanted to.” Kurt’s voice has dropped to a tone that makes Noah shiver and his mouth start to water. 

Noah wishes he wasn’t such a slave to that tone of voice. “Yeah, sure. I can be there in 20.”

“See you then!”

Noah rests his head against the steering wheel and breathes until he can ignore how fucked he is by this whole situation.

Still, Noah goes over to Kurt's place, finding a place a few blocks away to park, and lets himself up when a couple leaves the building. He's only been here a couple of times, so Noah feels like he should knock. When Kurt answers the door, he pulls Noah in by the lapels of his leather jacket. 

The next half hour is just as earth-shattering as every other half hour Noah has spent in bed with Kurt, but when they're done, Noah feels a little awkward. He pulls his shirt on and says, "Are you sure you don't want me to, I don't know, find something else to do tonight?"

"Don't be silly," Kurt says. "I want you there. Half of the company doesn't believe I'm actually seeing someone. It'll be fun to show you off a little."

Noah's pride makes him preen a little. Kurt thinks he's worth showing off. Of course Noah is worth showing off. He's damn hot and pretty awesome. Noah's just glad Kurt thinks so too, because Noah's pretty sure he's never dated someone as hot and awesome as Kurt.

Noah pulls his pants on and smirks at Kurt. "I like being shown off."

Kurt chuckles, buttoning up his lavender shirt before reaching for his teal velvet pants. Noah likes the way those pants feel when he runs his hands over them. Noah thinks about maybe finding a dark corner later at the party so he can get his hands back on Kurt. It's like there's this countdown clock in his head and Noah doesn't want to waste a minute of it.

The party is about as uncomfortable as Noah expects it to be. He follows Kurt around the party, basically feeling like an accessory, except when Kurt turns to him with a smile and asks, "What do you think, Noah?"

Sometimes Noah shrugs, but sometimes he does have an opinion, like when one asshole tries to argue that Copland was a better composer than Stravinsky. 

Mostly Noah watches Kurt interact with his friends. Kurt pretends this cool disinterest, but when one of his friends hits on a subject he likes, Kurt's whole face lights up. When he laughs at one of James' jokes (which Noah doesn't get, but that's okay), Noah thinks Kurt looks like the most beautiful person he's ever seen. 

Noah also realizes that around these people, Kurt is in his element. He moves through the party like he owns it, and everyone here seems to like him almost as much as Noah does. Any thought Noah might have given to asking Kurt to stay here with him is suddenly dashed. Noah can't do that to Kurt. Besides, in a contest between Noah and all of this, Noah is sure he'd lose. 

~*~

"So." Noah sighs, watching Kurt gather up his things. "This is it? You can't stay any longer?"

Kurt shakes his head sadly as he pulls his pants on. "Our run here in Seattle is over, and I promised my dad I'd take a few days with him in Ohio before I have to go to San Francisco." Kurt drops back down onto Noah's bed and puts his chin on Noah's chest. "I guess this is goodbye."

Pain wells up in Noah's chest and he can't help but haul Kurt further up the bed and into Noah's arms, holding him tightly. The way Kurt squeezes Noah in return is comforting, but it's not enough. It doesn't erase the fact that Kurt is leaving. It doesn't change the fact that Noah isn't going with him.

Noah gets this urge to tell Kurt exactly how he feels, but ultimately it's pointless. What's the use in telling Kurt Noah loves him, when there's nothing either of them can do about it? How fair is that to Kurt? How fair is that to Noah, if Kurt doesn't say it back?

Noah holds onto Kurt as long as he can before his guilt at holding Kurt back gets to him. "You'd better go," Noah says, drawing his arms away.

Kurt makes a pained noise of protest, but only squeezes Noah for one more second before he pulls back. Noah sighs and stands up from the bed, offering Kurt his hand. "Come on. I'll walk you to the door."

Sniffling, his eyes shining with tears, Kurt nods and takes Noah's hand. He opens his mouth like he might say something, but nothing comes out until they reach Noah's door. "I won't forget you."

Noah chokes on the surprised breath Kurt's comment inspires. After clearing his throat, Noah replies. "Good. I like to think I'm memorable."

"Very." Kurt smiles, even though he has several tears rolling down his cheeks. "What about me?"

Noah sings his response softly. "Unforgettable."

Kurt laughs, sniffling and rubbing the tears away from his face. "I'll miss you."

"Yeah." Noah presses one more kiss to Kurt's lips, pulling away before he's really ready to. "Bye, Kurt." He opens the door, needing to do this now before he loses his nerve and does something crazy, like propose to a guy he's been dating for six weeks.

Smiling weakly, Kurt puts his hand to the side of Noah's face. "Goodbye, Noah."

Kurt leaves. 

Noah closes the door and looks around at his empty apartment. He sinks down onto his couch and puts his head in his hands. It's really over.

~*~

"You sure you're okay, kiddo?" Burt asks, and Kurt feels almost like laughing. He's twenty-seven years old, but his dad still calls him "kiddo." Each and every time, Kurt feels more like seventeen than twenty-seven. "I thought you said the show in Seattle went good?"

"It went very well." Kurt puts on a smile and pokes at the salad on his plate. Frankly, the restaurant could've tried a little harder to use fresher lettuce, but that's Lima for you. "As long as we sell well in San Francisco, we're guaranteed a stage on Broadway."

Burt frowns and sets down his hamburger. "Then what's the problem? I haven't seen you mope like this since you first had that crush on Finn."

Rolling his eyes, Kurt scoffs, despite the way he feels his face heat up. Still, it would be nice to talk to _someone_ about this. It may as well be his dad. "There was a guy. In Seattle."

"Someone from your theater?" Burt asks like he's hoping for a specific answer, though Kurt's not sure which one Burt would root for. Would he rather his son was dating a coworker, or someone who lives in a place Kurt will most likely never live in again?

Kurt shakes his head. "No. He's a Seattleite. I had to leave him behind."

"Ah." Burt sighs and picks up a fry from his plate. Kurt tried talking his father into a salad instead when they ordered, but to no avail. "That's rough. You know, your mother and I did long distance for a year before we got married."

"You lived an hour away from each other for six months." Kurt levels a disbelieving look at his father. Does he really think there's much left of importance about his mother that Kurt _doesn't_ know about? "He lives a five hour plane ride away from New York. It didn't work out."

Burt grunts in agreement, eating a few more bites of his food before he speaks again. "I hate seeing you sad like this, Kurt. You got _out_ of this place. You escaped! You're supposed to be happy now."

Kurt laughs ruefully. "Happiness isn't that easy."

Shrugging, Burt takes a bite of his burger. While still chewing, Burt says, "I never found it all that hard. Find out what makes you happy." Burt swallows loudly. He points at Kurt emphatically. "And go for it."

Two months ago, Kurt would have insisted that's what he is doing, touring with this production, acting on stage for hundreds of people every night. Kurt loves his work. It makes him feel alive.

The problem is that being with Noah made Kurt feel just as alive, just as happy. How is he supposed to go for both his work and Noah at the same time? Trying to keep things going with Noah is just going to cause more heartache than it's worth.

And yet there's a little voice in the back of Kurt's mind telling him he's wrong. After they've finished dinner, headed back to the Hummel family home and played a few rounds of cards, Burt goes to bed. Carole bustles into the house a half hour after that, apologizing for missing his first meal back home, but raving about the ladies in her book club. 

Eventually Carole kisses Kurt's cheek, makes sure Burt gave him everything he needed, and heads to bed. The house grows quiet. Kurt sits at the kitchen table, his phone in his hands. 

What would Kurt even say? That every breath he spends apart from Noah is agony? That's a little hyperbolic. Noah's absence is painful, but it's a pain Kurt can bear. He's been through hardships before. It's not that Kurt can't handle being apart from Noah, it's just that he would very much rather not be. 

Maybe it's best to stay away from grand love declarations. Maybe Kurt should just keep things simple. He's not even sure Noah would welcome hearing from Kurt at all, much less this soon after they've said goodbye. 

Finally, Kurt settles on a text. _Lima looks exactly the same, if you were wondering._

Kurt grows anxious waiting for Noah's reply – a reply Kurt is half-convinced will never come – so he gets up and washes some dishes to pass the time. 

When he gets back to his phone, Kurt sees he has a reply waiting. _Wasn't wondering, but good to know. Jacobi's still there?_

It takes Kurt a moment to remember that Jacobi's was the name of the old frozen custard place that used to be downtown. He chuckles to himself and writes back. _Jacobi's shut down when we were in high school._

Noah texts back a picture of himself fake-crying. The sky behind Noah has shades of pink and orange and Kurt is hit with the strangeness of being three time zones away.

_I'm sure the world grieves with you, Noah._

_They'd better_. Noah replies, which makes Kurt laugh. 

He heads upstairs into his old bedroom and lays down. He wants to call Noah and tell him all about the trip so far, and about how its' been less than 24 hours and he already misses Noah more than he ever thought possible. Kurt wants to tell Noah about Burt's advice.

Instead, Kurt texts Noah something inane about airplane snacks and falls asleep before Noah gets back to him.

~*

Noah's chilling in the coffee shop on the corner of his street, killing time on a Saturday afternoon and texting with Kurt. It's been three months since Kurt left Seattle, and miraculously, they've been texting almost every day. Noah has gotten close to calling Kurt, just to hear his voice, more than once. Kurt hasn't called Noah yet, either. So, they text back and forth., every day. 

_You've gotta try toasted marshmallow on your coffee_ , Noah tells Kurt as he takes a long sip of his drink. _My barista, Joan, uses a creme brulee torch!_.

_I'm pretty sure Starbucks doesn't have Creme Brulee, or the torches required._ Kurt texts back. Noah can practically hear the disappointment in his voice, even though it's been long enough that Noah's sure he's starting to forget what Kurt sounds like.

_I thought Chicago was a world-class city. Why you drinking at Starbucks?_

It takes Kurt a few minutes to respond, during which Noah pokes at his notes about the song he's been writing. Usually his writing process is fairly slow, but his manager is getting anxious to get his name out there more, so Noah's trying to step up his game. It's not like he's spending his free time dating or anything. 

This song is about longing, and hell if Noah hasn't learned a lot about the topic lately. He's never been so hung up on someone before. On the one hand, it feels like he's turning into someone else, but on the other it's kind of nice to finally know that he _is_ capable of falling in love as desperately as everyone else seems to be.

Noah's phone buzzes sharply on the table. _It's right next to the theater. We've been working too hard to scope out a local place._

_Sell out_. Noah replies, chuckling to himself.

Kurt sends back a picture of himself, his eye-roll apparent in the image. Noah can't make out much of the background, because it's mostly dark and a little blurry, but just getting to see Kurt's face makes his chest tight.

He knows things can't keep going like this. Noah's life is functionally on hold, because he's not really with Kurt, but he can't give up on him either. Eventually he has to decide one way or another. Noah can't ask Kurt to come back to Seattle, not when it's clear his show is headed for Broadway. After all the reviews he's dredged up about _Crash_ , and everything he's heard from Kurt about agents and showrunners, Noah is sure that Kurt's career is only going to grow, and it's going to be based in New York. 

Noah can stay in Seattle, he can keep his life here and his friends, and he's sure he'll be happy. He might always wonder about what could've happened, but he'll be happy. Alternatively, Noah could move to New York and give things with Kurt a shot. Noah thinks the only way it could work out is if he scored a job in New York before he moved there, since Noah doesn't have any other friends in New York, and he and Kurt haven't talked at all about what might happen in the future. 

Noah's not even sure Kurt would want him if he did move. Maybe all this texting back and forth is just something to occupy Kurt while he's on the road. Maybe once Kurt gets back to New York and he doesn't have to worry about leaving another boyfriend behind, he'll drop Noah and go meet someone new. Noah wonders if there's something he can do to keep that from happening.

~*~

Kurt is going to kill Finn. Finn is lucky Kurt is a consummate professional, because otherwise this would have been a disaster. As it is, when Kurt makes his appearance onstage, he looks out at where he knows Finn will be and sees Noah Puckerman sitting there instead. He almost trips over his own feet, only the greater part of a year's worth of muscle memory saving him from abject ruin.

It's opening night on Broadway, and a mistake now will probably kill Kurt's career before it even really begins. So Kurt does what he has to do; he pretends that Noah Puckerman does not exist, at least while he's on stage. He has a long break in the second act, during which he allows himself to freak out in Jessie's direction.

"He's _here_!" Kurt shrieks, doing everything in his power not to touch his face and screw up his stage make up. Pauline will kill him if he needs a touch-up mid-performance. 

Jessie raises an eyebrow at Kurt. "Who's here? A reviewer?"

"Well, yes." Kurt huffs, digging his nails into his palms. "All the reviewers are here. No, it's Noah."

"Your Noah?" Jessie asks, grabbing onto Kurt's elbow. "I thought he was in Seattle."

"I thought so too." Kurt cries out a little in frustration before pulling himself back together. "It's not important now. I'll find out why he's here after the show."

Jessie nods, but meets Kurt's eyes. "Are you happy he's here?"

"Yes," Kurt says on a heavy breath out, without even thinking about the answer. "I'm thrown for a loop, but I'm happy. And nervous. And scared. Oh, god!"

"Forget I asked," Jessie says, looking past Kurt at where James is waving to them. "Deep breaths. We're on in a minute."

Kurt swears softly and takes Jessie's advice. He's a professional. He can do this. Noah Puckerman does not exist. If he did, he wouldn't be in New York. He'd be on the moon, or Jupiter or something. What's important here is wowing the audience.

That's what Kurt does. He puts on the best performance of his life, just to spite his nerves. He kills it, singing and dancing to the best of his ability. He hits every beat, musical and comedic. The audience loves him. Kurt can feel his castmates stepping up their game to keep up with him. The power in it enthralls Kurt and sets his whole body alight with joy.

After the last curtain call, Kurt's flying so high on the thrill of a good performance that he has truly forgotten Noah is in the audience. He remembers when James breaks into the crowd backstage, escorting someone. Kurt turns toward the disturbance and remembers. Noah is _here_.

Noah looks a little sheepish with his adorable smile and Kurt doesn't have time for that shit. All he cares about right now is jumping into Noah's arms and giving him a kiss to make up for leaving Noah back in Seattle four months ago. 

Noah's arms wrap around Kurt as he accepts the kiss, his lips pressing back against Kurt's harder than Kurt remembered him capable of. A wave of relief washes over Kurt as he breathes in against Noah's face, his scent evoking memory after memory of the time they spent together. When Kurt finally pulls back, smiling at Noah from about six inches away, he says, "You're here."

"Yeah. I got this great job offer…" The way Noah grins suggests to Kurt that this new job is a big deal. 

Kurt squeezes Noah again and asks, "Yeah? Taking a vacation on the East Coast before the new job starts?"

"I started yesterday." Kurt must look confused, because Noah laughs, kissing the corner of Kurt's mouth. "I started yesterday in Midtown. I've got a little place in Queens."

If Kurt thought he was flying high coming off his first Broadway performance, the feeling he gets when he realizes Noah has moved to New York easily matches it. His heart clenches in his chest and his lungs gasp for air. "Really?"

Smiling, Noah nods. "Yeah."

"Tell me you didn't move all the way across the country for me." Kurt demands, slapping Noah's bicep excitedly. "Oh, my god!"

"Nah," Noah says easily, taking Kurt's hand and drawing him a little bit away from his friends. He does that sheepish, looking up through his lashes thing again. Kurt thinks he's going to have a heart attack. Noah says, "I didn't move here for you, Kurt. I moved here for us."

"That's stupid," Kurt says, but he pulls Noah into a kiss anyway. The moment Kurt's tongue touches Noah's he knows there's no way he's going to the after party with the rest of the cast. He has more important things to do. He looks Noah dead in the eye and says, "Someday you're going to regret this, and yet…"

"What?" Noah asks.

Kurt grins devilishly at Noah and squeezes his hand. "I'm going to try my best to make sure those regrets don't happen for a long, long time."

Noah laughs and lets Kurt lead him toward the dressing room where he's left his wallet and keys and things. If they get caught _in flagrante_ ten minutes later, well, Jessie really should have known better.

~*~

The End

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Feel free to leave comments! You can also find me [on tumblr.](http://pterawaters.tumblr.com/)


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